Under Utah's new search advertising restrictions, pharmaceutical companies and car dealers could shunt more search traffic to their sites, reports ClickZ.

The benefit could come because the new law creates an "electronic registration mark" that may not be used by a competitor to the company holding that mark. Companies would be prohibited from using the name of a popular drug - so long as the brand owner registered the name - to trigger ads for alternatives to that drug.

The law may face trouble remaining on the books, though, in the face of legal precedents and the way jurists tend to interpret trademark law. The general goal of trademark law is to prevent consumer confusion, rather than to narrowly protect rights to a name. Where the Utah law results in less consumer confusion, it is probably on safer territory. Where it precludes competitive advertising, or even the mention of a competitor, it might be a bit shakier.

The list of donors to the bill's main sponor, State Senator Dan Eastman, contains many names associated with Utah's auto and drug industry. Utah has become known as a regulation-friendly state on the internet, although several such attempts - both in law and judicial precedent - have been overturned by federal courts.